Can Technology Really Change Behaviour?

That was the big question an exciting line up of speakers debated during Drinkaware's free #Tech4Change seminar on 14 November 2013.

Our well attended seminar at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London brought together a selection of leading thinkers and innovators in behaviour change and digital innovation.

The event was chaired by Alex Hunter, digital branding expert and former Head of Online Marketing at Virgin Group, and by Ben Butler, Head of Digital at Drinkaware.

The audience was invited to share their perspectives on how digital tools and social media might be used to change drinking behaviour.

Event speakers biographies

Alex hunter Alex Hunter is CEO of Rushmore.fm, company incubator, angel investor, digital branding expert, public speaker and Drinkaware Trustee. Previously, Alex served as the global Head of Online Marketing for the Virgin Group, curating the Virgin brand’s global digital strategy. Before joining the Virgin Group, Alex was based in California at Virgin America, where he used the web to build a grassroots marketing campaign to garner public support for Virgin America’s certification process. He also oversaw the development of Virgin America’s website which has since won several accolades including ad:tech and Webby Award honours.

Chris HollindaleChris Hollindale is a self-tracker and the co-founder of Zesty, a healthy food ordering company based in San Francisco. Zesty calculates the nutritional profile of all available dishes to make it easier for people to know what they're eating and to track their consumption. Chris is an avid follower of the quantified self movement and has personally self-tracked such diverse metrics as weight, mood, alcohol consumption, sleep quality and music listening habits over a number of years. He was previously a technology consultant in London and has a first class mathematics degree from the University of Oxford.

Dr Jason RentfrowDr Jason Rentfrow is currently a University Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge. His research concerns, among other things, how psychological processes are expressed in daily life experiences. He is also an expert in psychological and behavioural assessment. Jason’s research has been published in international peer-reviewed journals, presented at international scientific conferences, and featured in radio, television, and print media, including BBC, CNN, The New York Times, The Guardian, Sunday Times, The Economist, and Science. He has also worked as a consultant and scientific advisor for several organizations, including EMI Music and BBC LabUK.Neal LathiaNeal is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge's Computer Laboratory, where he researches how data can be used to help people's daily lives. He is currently working on the Emotion Sense project. Emotion Sense is an app that helps people monitor how their mood relates to the sensor data that their phone can collect about them, and is part of a multi-university project that is researching how these tools can support the future of behavior change interventions.

Professor Karen PineProfessor Karen Pine is Professor of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire and co-founder of an innovative approach to behaviour change called Do Something Different. Professor Pine’s academic research is internationally renowned and has been published and presented all over the world. She is also the author of five popular books, most recently ‘Flex: Do Something Different. How to Use the other 9/10ths of your Personality’. Do Something Different is now delivered to people via digital technologies. It addresses issues where people need to change but struggle to, helping them to change their behaviour with small simple steps, or ‘one Do at a time’.

Steven JohnsonSteven Johnson is Considered. He is a writer, speaker and freelance consultant specialising in behaviour change, sustainability, and social innovation. His work spans roles as a D&AD Trustee, ECD at social design Collaborative Change and Founding Director at behaviour change consultancy, Considered. He is also author of an upcoming book, Considered Creative. Over the last decade he has been responsible for leading insight and design on a vast range of social and behaviour change projects addressing public health and sustainability issues. Working with private, public and third sector clients across the UK, Europe and North America his work has received recognition from the Design Business Association, IPA, AHC, D&AD, How-Do and the German Design Council.Dr Tim HarriesDr Tim Harries is a Senior Research Fellow in the Behaviour and Practice Research Group, Kingston University. With a background in social psychology and human geography, Tim’s research looks at why people behave as they do and what digital (or other) interventions can promote behaviours that are safer, healthier and more environmentally sustainable. Most recently, Tim ran a project called CHARM that explored the effectiveness of applying the social norms approach to digital feedback provided via the internet, email and smartphone apps. His particular interests include walking behaviours, domestic electricity consumption and the self-management of diabetes.

Peter HamesPeter Hames is an ex-insomnia sufferer and co-founder of PocketProf. PocketProf's first product, Sleepio, is a digital sleep improvement program clinically proven to overcome even long term poor sleep. Co-created with sleep expert Prof Colin Espie (Oxford University), it features the same Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) techniques that Peter used to cure his poor sleep. Peter graduated from Oxford University with an MA in Experimental Psychology and is a mentor on the Health XL incubator.